MTV set for biggest summer of live music in UK

MTV has revealed plans to host its biggest ever summer of live music in the UK to bring millions of music fans stand out performances from some of their favourite acts.

As well as staging a number of MTV branded live music events in cities around the UK and Ireland, the broadcaster has also struck exclusive partnerships with a range of music festivals and will launch a new TV showcase for live music, Soundchain presented by Zane Lowe.

Coverage will air across MTV’s UK music TV channels, including MTV Music and MTV LIVE HD.

Virginia Monaghan, VP, Music Commissioning & Content, MTV Networks UK commented: “The coming months couldn’t be more exciting for MTV. With Soundchain and a huge array of live music events, MTV will air the largest-ever slate of live music across our music channels this summer. We are delighted to be working with both new and existing partners to bring the best from the UK’s live summer music scene to MTV in the coming months.”

For the fourth year running, MTV will ‘crash’ a number of cities to stage large scale live music events in partnership with tourist boards across the UK and Ireland. The series of events will kick off in July in Plymouth, where the Kaiser Chiefs and Example will headline an open air gig in front of more than 20,000 fans. Two further city destinations will be announced shortly.

MTV has secured the exclusive broadcast rights to V Festival – one of the biggest dates in the festival calendar and continues its partnership with Ibiza/Mallorca Rocks. MTV will also broadcast festival highlights from Wireless, which kicks off this Friday (4 July) with Jamal Edwards confirmed to co-host MTV’s coverage with Laura Whitmore.

MTV has also partnered with Relentless Energy Drink to produce a new live music showcase, Soundchain, presented by Zane Lowe. The series features exclusive live sets and interviews with different bands including Jake Bugg, Chase and Status, Kasabian, Biffy Clyro, Ed Sheeran, Queens of the Stone Age and Nas. It premieres on 6 July at 9.30pm on MTV Music.

MTV has just staged one of the largest free open-air concerts in Europe, Isle of MTV in Malta, for the eighth consecutive year. In conjunction with the Malta Tourism Authority, the event was attended by an estimated 50,000 music fans and included performances from Dizzee Rascal, Nicole Scherzinger, Enrique Iglesias, and DJ Hardwell. A 60 minute special will be broadcast across 20 MTV channels throughout Europe, including the UK.

In November, MTV’s most prestigious live music event, the EMA, will be staged in Glasgow. The 20th anniversary ceremony will stream to nearly 700 million households through MTV’s global network of channels, with headline acts set to be announced in due course.